The 10 most expensive players signed from the Championship – & how they fared
The Championship is home to some of the brightest talents in English football – but how did those snapped up by Premier League clubs fare in the top flight?
Players in the second tier have become increasingly attractive options for the Premier League big boys and plenty have made the step up to the big time.
But what became of them? We’ve rounded up the Championship’s record 10 sales and assessed how they’ve fared since moving up a level.
Note: we’re not including newly-relegated players here, with Romeo Lavia, James Maddison and Nathan Ake technically topping the list of the second tier’s most expensive sales – but they’re all effectively Premier League players and transfers.
Instead, we’re taking a look at the 10 most expensive transfers for players who were playing in the Championship for at least one season prior to their sale.
10. Arnaut Danjuma
Bournemouth to Villarreal – £21.3million
Bournemouth signed the Dutch winger for a not-inconsiderable £13.7 million fee from Club Brugge back in 2019.
A broken foot injury and looking unfancied by Eddie Howe reduced him to just six Premier League starts and a forgotten, fringe role when the Cherries were relegated in his debut season.
But he eventually kicked on to become one of the most entertaining forwards in the Championship as Bournemouth settled briefly back into life in the second tier.
He couldn’t quite inspire them to promotion, however, and was eventually moved on to Villarreal for a healthy profit in the summer of 2021.
Another purple patch saw Danjuma produce some wonderful moments as Unai Emery’s Yellow Submarine made it to the Champions League semi-finals in 2021-22, knocking out Bayern Munich en route, but he couldn’t quite sustain consistency.
He’s since spent a couple of loans to Tottenham and Everton and has now barely done anything of note across three Premier League campaigns with three different clubs. A total head-scratcher of a footballer.
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9. Adam Webster
Bristol City to Brighton – £20million
The centre-back has made over 120 Premier League appearances since joining Brighton from Bristol City five years ago, although he fell out of favour a little – in part due to recurring minor injuries – under Roberto De Zerbi.
Webster has never been capped at senior level by England, although he was reportedly among the players considered by Gareth Southgate a couple of years back.
We can’t see any England debut on the horizon at this stage, but it’ll be interesting to see how he fares under incoming Seagulls boss Fabian Hurzeler, who is only two years his senior.
8. Adam Wharton
Blackburn to Crystal Palace – £22million
Just beating the likes of Viktor Gyokeres and Keane Lewis-Potter to sneak into the top 10, Wharton is the first of four players in this list to feature in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for Euro 2024.
The young midfielder was only halfway through his first season as a regular starter for hometown club Blackburn Rovers when he was snapped up by Crystal Palace in January.
He’s immediately hit the ground running at Selhurst Park and is said to be attracting interest from the likes of Bayern Munich already. Special talent.
7. Jarrod Bowen
Hull to West Ham – £22million
Alongside Crystal Palace’s trio of Eberechi Eze, Michael Olise and Wharton, Bowen is one of the poster boys for how the Championship can be a goldmine for recruiting emerging talent.
After establishing himself as one of the best players in the second tier at Hull City, Bowen continued his rise at West Ham, developing into a fully-fledged international and the man who scored the match-winner for their first major honour in 43 years.
Not bad going.
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name West Ham’s top goalscorer from every Premier League season?
6. James Maddison
Norwich City to Leicester City – £24million
As per the above rules, we’ve not included Maddison’s big-money move from relegated Leicester City to Tottenham last summer.
But he makes the cut from his move from Norwich City to Leicester back in 2018. He won the FA Cup with the Foxes and was among the standout players under Brendan Rodgers as they narrowly missed out on Champions League football two seasons running.
Maddison remains a wonderful footballer on his day, but the trajectory of his debut Tottenham season – from being talked up as the signing of the summer to missing out on England’s Euro 2024 squad – feels like a recurring theme.
5. Alex Scott
Bristol City to Bournemouth – £25million
Injuries delayed Scott from hitting the ground running at Bournemouth, having moved from Bristol City last summer with a reputation as one of the most gifted youngsters in the Football League.
The 20-year-old grew into his debut season as Andoni Iraoli’s Cherries played some lovely football on their way to a respectable 12th-place finish.
We’re expecting big things of the midfielder, and wouldn’t be surprised if he graduates from England’s Under-20s into the senior set-up at some point over the next 12 months.
4. Said Benrahma
Brentford to West Ham – £25million
Alongside Bryan Mbeumo and Ollie Watkins, Benrahma was a key cog in a Brentford front three that bagged goals for fun in the Championship in 2019-20.
Thomas Frank’s Bees conspired to blow their chance to go up that season, letting slip automatic promotion before losing in the play-offs, but it was obvious back then that the club – and so many of their star players – were destined to play top-flight football.
Benrahma didn’t stick around to make another go of it, loaned out to West Ham when Brentford went up the following year, with a permanent move eventually getting completed for a £25million fee in 2021.
The Algerian winger had his moments during his time at the London Stadium and was a part of the side alongside Bowen that won the UEFA Conference League in 2023.
But it would also be fair to characterise him as hit-and-miss with the Hammers before being moved on to Lyon.
READ: Where are they now? Every EFL Young Player of the Year from the 2010s
3. Jude Bellingham
Birmingham City to Borussia Dortmund – £25million
Anyone know what he’s up to these days?
2. Ollie Watkins
Brentford to Aston Villa – £28million
A rare talent that didn’t come up through an elite academy, Watkins’ rise has seen him go from Exeter City to Brentford to Aston Villa. Like Benrahma, he moved on after the Bees’ failed to go up in 2020, but neither party have looked back.
The 28-year-old has just enjoyed the finest season of his career, notching an exceptional tally of 19 goals and 13 assists to fire Villa into the Champions League.
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every team to win promotion to the Premier League?
1. Joao Pedro
Watford to Brighton – £30million
Having flitted between the top two tiers with Watford over the course of his three years at Vicarage Road, the Brazilian forward moved to Brighton following the Hornets’ underwhelming midtable finish in 2022-23.
He enjoyed a fine debut campaign playing under Roberto De Zerbi, notching 20 goals in all competitions. Half of these were penalties, but you can’t argue with his 90% conversion rate.